We’re in a bit of a news lull between Barack Obama’s acceptance speech and John McCain’s VP announcement, so no roundup today. But here’s one news item we thought worth mentioning:

The Politico’s Jonathan Martin notes that the McCain campaign is making the transition to post-convention fundraising – and George W. Bush will be a big part of it. As soon as McCain accepts the GOP nomination, he won’t be able to raise funds anymore, instead relying on $84 million in public financing. But the RNC and state parties still can, which is where Bush comes in.

The current president will do his work on friendly turf – Oklahoma and Texas. And McCain won’t be in attendance.

With John McCain at home in Arizona (reportedly making the final decision on his VP candidate) and most media attention focused on the final day of the Democratic National Convention, it’s a relatively quiet news day – at least in terms of lobbyists and fundraising. But there are a few news stories that merit attention.

Time Magazine’s Joe Klein writes about “What Bush Taught McCain,” and it isn’t pretty. It includes this key passage: “But McCain has proved a selective maverick, surrounded by special-interest lobbyists who shape his foreign and fiscal policies. In fact, I suspect that this year’s McCain is closer to the real thing than the noble 2000 version.”

National Journal goes into detail about the posh treatment afforded bundlers at the DNC this week, including access to Obama after his acceptance speech. USA Today has a report in a similar vein.

Finally, the UK’s Daily Telegraph gives lobbyists a chance to defend themselves. One, speaking of Obama’s plans to limit the influence of lobbyists in his administration, says that without lobbyists, he’d be left with “academics and virgins” shaping policy.

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While most eyes are on the Democratic Convention, the Minneapolis Star-Tribune is still keeping an eye on the GOP convention that will land in its backyard next week. Today, it has news that shows how unimportant reform is to the Republican Party – and to its presumed nominee, Sen. John McCain.

Bob Von Sternberg, writing about the final revisions being made to the official Republican Party platform notes that it’s “silent on campaign finance reform, a McCain signature issue that has deeply alienated him from many conservatives.”

Had John McCain won the nomination in 2000, would this have happened? Probably not. But it’s sadly no surprise from the John McCain of 2008 – no reform in the platform, even though this is the first one since the GOP lost control of Congress in an election where corruption was a huge issue.

Speaking of 2006 and corruption, imprisoned former Rep. Randy “Duke” Cunningham’s old district played host to a McCain fundraiser last night – the San Diego Union-Tribune has the report.

The Weekly Standard also has a behind the scenes look at another McCain fundraiser. McCain, as you probably know, has labeled Barack Obama a celebrity – even though, as this story points out, he’s happy to hob-nob with Tinseltown’s conservative crowd.

Finally, The Atlantic’s Clive Crook provides an excellent explainer of how and why there’s so much corporate money flowing into this year’s conventions – with plenty of information from the excellent Center for Responsive Politics.

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The Democratic Convention is in full swing, but it’s an item about the Republican Convention that grabbed our attention this morning: In a Dallas Morning News story about corporations scrambling for skyboxes the night of Barack Obama’s acceptance speech, we also learn that Republican VP shortlister Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty’s “written “talking points” at a fundraising luncheon for corporate CEOs promised ‘contact with influential government officials (Cabinet, President, next President)’ during the convention in St. Paul.”

We agree with the Campaign Finance Institute’s Stephen Weissman on this one: “It’s access, with gratitude.”

Here’s an item we missed over the weekend, but it’s too interesting to pass up: McCain’s lobbyist/foreign policy advisor, Randy Scheunemann, was until this spring, a lobbyist for the National Rifle Association, which has been the strongest opponent of a proposal to ban gun sales to people on terrorist watch lists. The measure has bipartisan and White House support, but McCain has been silent on the issue, says Newsweek.

What role does Rhode Island play in McCain’s presidential hopes? It’s an ATM, it turns out – McCain’s mom and another VP possibility, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, attended a fundraiser there, says the Providence Journal.

Speaking of ATMs, McCain kicked off his California fundraising swing last night, the Sacramento Bee reports, though the presumed GOP nominee insists he’ll compete in California.

Heard any juicy fundraising tidbits? Send them our way at tips@mccainslobbyists.com.

Two weeks of Olympics give way to two weeks of conventions starting today, with the Democratic National Convention kicking off today in Denver. Where’s John McCain during today’s festivities? He’s in Sacramento for a fundraiser, according to the Sacramento Bee.

One of the hosts of the event is developer Gerry Kamilos, who, according to a Modesto Bee profile from 2007, also has a lengthy career in the oil business, including eight years with Chevron.

Also attracting attention are McCain’s ties to big telecom companies – the subject of a story from last week by McClatchy’s Greg Gordon. According to a recently updated Campaign Money Watch report, McCain has received more than $673,000 from three of the biggest telecom companies, all of which have been tied to McCain’s lobbyist bundlers, staff members and advisors.

Speaking of bundlers, the Politico’s Ben Smith reported last week that the sole backer of a new campaign ad linking Barack Obama to terrorism – an ad Smith calls “the most negative of the cycle” – is none other than McCain bundler Harold Simmons, who has raised between $50,000 and $100,000 for the presumed GOP nominee.

Finally, a reminder about those conventions you’ll be watching over the next two weeks, brought to you by Newsday and MarketWatch: They’ll be the best that money can buy.

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The Republican National Committee’s Victory Fund – which allows donors to write huge checks that are then divided between John McCain, the RNC and state GOP committees – is the focus of stories in both The New York Times and The Washington Post this morning.

The Times’ Leslie Wayne takes a mostly informational approach to the subject, noting that much of the credit for McCain’s record $27 million haul in July must go to a series of Victory Fund fundraising dinners that acted as magnets for big-money donors.

However, the Post’s Matthew Mosk and Sarah Cohen look at the temporary anonymity afforded to Victory Fund donors. While McCain’s campaign must file quarterly reports that itemize its large donations, the Victory Fund need only file on a quarterly basis – thus allowing the contributors to a major part of the McCain election effort to remain unknown for months.

Finally, John McCain may be offering up apologies to some of his closest lobbyist friends this morning. In an interview with The Politico, McCain called lobbyists “birds of prey” who descend on a corrupt system “to get their share of the spoils.”

But that’s only the first of a few head-scratching quotes from the presumed GOP nominee.

Says McCain: “Lobbyists don’t come to my office.” Perhaps so, but they do help set up McCain’s phone calls and meet with his closest advisors (though it may not literally be in McCain’s office). Of course, McCain’s statement may be not true at all. Bud Paxson seems to remember his lobbyist at the time, Vicki Iseman, attending meetings in McCain’s office.

McCain also says, “I would not allow anyone who worked for my administration to go back to lobbying.” That’s a good gesture. But what about the lobbyists who are helping elect McCain right now? There’s no barrier stopping them from going back to work for their powerful clients after months of getting cozy with McCain.

Finally, McCain says the lobbyist problem would go away entirely with a ban on earmark spending. Yet that wouldn’t seem to stop them from helping smooth the path for corporate mergers or, say, weighing in on Defense contracts. The problem of lobbyists’ influence in Washington is a much bigger one than Sen. McCain lets on.

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John McCain’s presidential campaign released its technology plan on August 14. While intended to show that McCain isn’t as divorced from modern technology as he’s sometimes portrayed, the plan also serves to highlight his numerous connections to Washington lobbyists. See, it turns out that the people who would benefit most from McCain’s plan have also contributed more than $3.4 million to him over his career, including $1,757,173 in 2008 alone.

That’s just one of many interesting items contained in Campaign Money Watch’s new factsheet on the McCain technology plan. The report also details how much money the lobbyists in McCain’s orbit have made off their tech clients, and lists  39 lobbyists whose firms have made big money off tech clients.

To learn more, read the report online.

Think John McCain is hopelessly behind in the money race? Think again, says Newsweek’s Andrew Romano. He explains why McCain has been on the air with ads in so many key battleground states. It’s not because he’s pulling in so much money on his own – Barack Obama beats him soundly there – but because of his fundraising alliance with the Republican National Committee.

McCain finally got to visit an oil rig, one month after his last visit was canceled due to bad weather, The Washington Post reports. It’s no surprise, of course, that McCain went out of his way to reschedule this appearance, considering his close ties to the oil industry.

But McCain isn’t so close to the pharmaceutical industry, Bloomberg’s Justin Blum reports. McCain’s criticisms of the industry have hurt his standing so much that Barack Obama is actually getting more donations from drugmakers so far.

The Associated Press’ Jim Kuhnhenn is the latest to report on the confluence of money and lobbyists at this year’s party conventions. In case you’d like to know exactly where and when the money is changing hands, take a look at The Sunlight Foundation’s new Party Time site, which is gathering information on all the parties and galas taking place away from the convention floor.

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John McCain’s Atlanta fundraiser has come and gone, and it turns out Ralph Reed wasn’t anywhere to be found. The New York Times’ Elisabeth Bumiller, calling Reed “The Man Who Wasn’t There,” notes that McCain didn’t mention Reed at the event, despite efforts by the Jack Abramoff associate to round up donations for McCain’s campaign.

Meanwhile ABC News.com documents the sparring between the McCain and Obama campaigns over the event. At question is whether the McCain camp “uninvited” Reed from the event in order to avoid embarrassment.

As for local coverage, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution chose to focus on the crowd of about 50 protesters who showed up at the event, chanting “Bush, McCain, same thing!” “Several hundred donors” were in attendance, according to the AJC’s Aaron Gould Sheinin.

The Associated Press tackles the big question though: How much did McCain raise at this event, anyway? The answer: $1.75 million. But we’re wondering: How much of that came from donations Reed solicited? And does John McCain have any intention of keeping that tainted money?

Finally, two stories on the conventions: While The New York Times’ Leslie Wayne notes that some groups have canceled convention events rather than deal with rules imposed by new ethics legislation, the San Francisco Chronicle’s Zachary Coile reports that lobbyists and corporations have found an easy way around the rules: throw a party for a group of politicians, instead of just one.

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In case you forgot, today’s the day of John McCain’s big Atlanta fundraiser, one former Jack Abramoff associate Ralph Reed has played a big role in promoting. But the event isn’t big enough to merit attendance by most of the state’s Republican U.S. House delegation, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s Ben Smith. Only one of the state’s five GOP congressmen will be in attendance.

McCain kicks off the week by going on the record about Randy Scheunemann, the foreign policy advisor whose lobbying ties to Georgia have raised questions: “I’m proud to have supported them,” McCain said of Georgia in an interview with USA Today. “And I’m so proud that so many of my friends have done so, who also believe in freedom and democracy.”

The Minneapolis Star-Tribune’s Kevin Diaz takes a look at presidential fundraising in the state that will host this year’s Republican National Convention (and home of possible VP candidate Gov. Tim Pawlenty). About three-fourths of McCain’s Minnesota donations are from donors of $1,000 or more, compared to 20 percent for Barack Obama.

Buried deep in a story about the candidates’ views on financial markets, The New York Times notes that Phil Gramm, the former senator and lobbyist many thought the campaign exiled after his remarks about a “mental recession” and a “nation of whiners,” is still a go-to guy for McCain on domestic policy, and is still a top prospect for Treasury secretary in a McCain administraion.

Finally, a reminder that reliance on big money is a bipartisan affair: The Chicago Sun-Times’ Lynn Sweet reports on Obama’s $7.8 million haul at a three-hour fundraiser in San Francisco, where Nancy Pelosi was one of the attendees.

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